Getter assemblage



Nov. 17, 1959 R. T. PENNOYER GETTER ASSEMBLAGE Filed Dec. 30, 1957 FIGJ.

INVENTOR:

,ROBERT T. PENNOYER, BY 41% W HISA OR Y. I

United States Patent GETTER ASSEMBLAGE Robert T. Pennoyer, Altamont,N.Y., assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of New YorkApplication December 30, 1957, Serial No. 706,158

3 Claims. (Cl. 206-56) This invention relates to the manufacture ofelectron discharge devices and more particularly to improvements in anassembly or packaging arrangement and method of handling of getters forelectron discharge devices.

In the manufacture of electron discharge devices having evacuatedenvelopes it is common practice to employ getters to absorb gasesremaining within the envelope after the envelope is mechanicallyevacuated and sealed. The getters are customarily manufactured at alocation sufliciently removed from thepoint of assembly of a completetube as to require shipment to such point of assembly. Such shipmentsare usually made in bulk packages, which because of the small size,delicate nature and often unusual shape of the getters, are diflicult tounpack quickly or without damage to the getters.

Moreover getters packaged in this way are inconvenient to handle afterunpacking and difiicult to orient to the degree desired for automatedprocessing in high speed volume production.

Accordingly it is a principal object of the present invention to providean improved arrangement for packaging or assembling a plurality ofgetters such as to facilitate rapid and inexpensive packing in andunpacking from shipping containers, and simplify processing of largenumbers of getters at high speed as required for high volume automatedproduction of electron discharge devices.

Another object is to provide a getter assemblage and method of utilizingthe same which simplifies processing and assembling of getters indischarge devices.

Another object is to provide an improved getter assemblage of whichportions serve additionally as supports for getters installed withincompleted electron discharge devices.

These and other objects of the invention will be apparent from thefollowing description, and the scope of the invention will be defined inthe appended claims.

Briefly in accordance with the present invention, I permanently secure,as by welding, a succession of getters to a continuous elongate metalliccarrier, preferably at uniformly spaced points thereon and with auniform orientation relative to the carrier. The assemblage of carriermounted getters may then be rapidly and easily packed for shipment, forexample by winding the carrier into a coil or roll, with minimum changeof damage to the getters. Likewise the assemblage may be conviently andrapidly unpacked and fed into suitable automated processing machinery atthe point of electron discharge device assembly with a minimum of handoperations. Each segment of the carrier to which a getter is attachedalso serves additionally, according to the invention, as the means bywhich the getter is mounted and supported in an assembled electrondischarge device.

In the drawing, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a getter of a type towhich the present invention is particularly applicable, processedaccording to the invention and ready for mounting in an electrondischarge device;

Figure 2 is a partially broken away diminished view of an electrondischarge device in which the getter of Figure 1 is installed;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of a series of gettersassembled according to the present invention; and

Figure 4 is a side elevation view of the ure 3.

Referring to Figure 1 the getter there shown includes a U-shaped holder2 including a bight portion 4 and spaced arm portions 6. The holder maybe a segment of wire, preferably of a metal or metals, such as nickel orcopper plated iron, to which it is easy to make a good weld. Extendingbetween and welded to the arms 6 is a trough-like container 8 holding aquantity of a suitable getters of Figgettering material 10 such asbarium. The holder 2 and container 8 together form an electricalinductive loop by which the gettering material may be heated inductivelyor resistively sufficiently to vaporize the gettering material asdesired for gettering action. Permanently attached to the bight portionof holder 2, as by a weld 12, is a metal post 14 by which the getter issupported when mounted within the envelope 16 of an assembled dischargedevice as shown in Figure 2. The metal post 14 may, as shown in Figure2, be permanently secured, as by a weld 18, to the top shield 20 orother element of the discharge device.

According to the invention I pre-package a plurality of getters such asshown in Figure 1 into a getter assemblage by mounting a plurality ofgetters on a common elongate carrier, preferably consisting of acontinuous metal wire 24 as shown in Figure 3. The getters arepreferable equally spaced and uniformly oriented on the carrier 24, andare permanently secured to the carrier at their bight position, as bywelds 26.

Once the getter assemblage is brought to a suitable assembly station,the individual getters may be removed from the carrier 24 by cutting offsuccessive segments of the carrier each having a getter attached to it,as shown in Figure 3. Each carrier segment, already permanently securedto its getter by a weld, can then conveniently and economically serve,after suitable bending or other forming if necessary, as the mountingpost 14 for supporting the getter in a discharge device. This eliminatesthe need for separately fastening the getter to a mounting post beforeinstallation in the discharge device.

So that the individual segments of the carrier 24 will be well adaptedfor mounting within a discharge device envelope, the carrier ispreferably made of a metal which both is readily welded and has aminimum capacity for retaining occluded gases such as might be releasedWithin the envelope and contaminate the discharge device. Nickel is aparticularly suitable metal for the carrier, though other metals, suchas copper plated iron for example, are

also suitable.

large numbers of getters may be conveniently packed for shipment withminimum chance of tangling or injury to the getters merely by winding upthe carrier 24 in a coil or reel. Likewise the getters may beconveniently unpacked merely by uncoiling or unreeling the carrier. Alsothe getters fastened to the common carrier may be conveniently handledor processed through automatic conveying equipment with a minimum oftime-consuming and expensive hand operations, and finally the carriersegments themselves serve as the supports for the getters in assemblydischarge devices.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the inventionmay be carried out in various ways and may take various forms andembodiments other than those illustrative embodiments heretoforedescribed. It is to be understood that the scope of the invention is notlimited by the details of the foregoing description, but will be definedin the following claims.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates is:

1. A getter assembly comprising a plurality of getters each including acontainer of gettering material and a U-shaped holder of Weldable wireincluding a bight portion and a pair of arm portions between which thecontainer of gettering material is secured by welds, a continuouselongate carrier of a weldable metal having a low capacity for occludedgases and adapted to be subdivided into segments each of length for agetter mounting post in an electron discharge device, and Weldspermanently securing the b ight portions of said holders to said carrierat uniformly spaced points along said carrier, said holders beingarranged in substantially coplanar relation to each other on saidcarrier.

2. A getter assembly comprising a plurality of getters each including acontainer of gettering material and a U-shaped holder of Weldable wireincluding a bight portion and a pair of arm portions between which thecontainer of gettering material is secured by welds, a continuouselongate carrier of a Weldable metal having a low capacity for occludedgases and adapted to be subdivided into stiff segments each of a lengthfor a getter mounting post in an electron discharge device, and weldssecuring said carrier segments to said respective holders at a point oneach holder spaced from the getter attached thereto, said holders beingarranged in substantially coplanar relation to each other on saidcarrier.

3. A getter assembly comprising a plurality of getters each including ametal container of gettering material and a weldable metal holder, saidholder and container together forming a closed electrically conductiveloop for inductive heating of said gettering material, a continuouselongate carrier wire of a weldable metal having a low capacity foroccluded gases and adapted to be subdivided into stilt segments each oflength for a getter mounting post in an electron discharge device, andwelds permanently securing said carrier Wire segments to said respectiveholders, said holders being arranged in substantially coplanar relationto each other on said carrier wire.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,263,218 Fischer Apr. 16, 1918 1,744,026 Baltzley J an. 21, 19302,525,358 Ienett Oct. 10, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS 145,210 Australia Feb.18, 1952

